All posts by Sonya McIntyre

Sonya was born in Lower Hutt and went to Rata Street Kindergarten and Petone Kindergarten. A qualified ECE, she studied at Victoria University in Wellington and has worked with home-based educators, in community-based childcare and in kindergarten. With childhood memories of reading books and writing stories, combined with her passion for all things social media, Sonya segued into her role with us at Storypark as social media manager.

Using macrons on Storypark

Cultural sensitivity and understanding are big considerations these days, and rightly so. One way that you can include this in your teaching practice is to make sure that you spell words correctly including making use of the appropriate macrons. Macrons are used to signify the length of vowels in many different languages. It’s unlikely your computer is set up to type...

/ June 16, 2016

Learning in a puddle

One of my clearest childhood memories is of a friend and I walking to school and coming across a gigantic puddle. It was like a magnet that drew us closer and closer. I remember us looking at each other, no words were needed as we both knew what we had to do. We jumped in that puddle, splashing each other,...

/ June 8, 2016

Mentoring advice part three – your words

In our third and final article focusing on advice imparted on educators by their mentors, we have a wonderful collection of your own words and personal stories. We have no doubt that they will inspire you in different ways and we hope you find something that speaks to you. One mentor told me to look at my teaching and learning philosophy regularly as...

/ June 1, 2016

Mentoring advice part one – Working with children

We had the most overwhelming response to our recent give away where we asked you to share with us the one piece of advice or lesson learnt from a mentor that has influenced your teaching the most. We compiled your entries into lists, defined by category and filled with all of the best advice given to our Storypark users by their mentors...

/ April 27, 2016

How to get the most out of your study tour to Reggio Emilia

  No one in Reggio wants to teach others how to “do school.” What we seek to do rather is to try and deepen our understanding, together with others, of why it was possible in Reggio Emilia for an (educational) experience founded after the war, to grow and consolidate with time… What we want to do is look together for...

/ April 10, 2016

Moving from rostered duties, to a key child approach

To duty roster or not to duty roster, that is the question? During my 14-year teaching career, I have taught in a learning service WITH assigned duty rosters, and am currently working in a learning service WITHOUT duty rosters. When I started in my current learning service and was told there were no rosters I felt a little uneasy. “How...

/ March 15, 2016

Alternative job description for early childhood teachers

You must have a warm, smiling face that makes every child feel special and loved. You must be able to laugh at jokes that you don’t understand, or you don’t find funny. Child humour can be a confusing minefield to navigate. You will preferably have a little bit of quirkiness. If a child requests that you be the captain of...

/ February 11, 2016

Mentoring advice part two – Leadership

  Recently we asked you to share with us the one piece of advice or lesson learnt from a mentor that has influenced your teaching the most. In the second of our articles on mentoring, we focus on leadership advice. There are some great words of wisdom here, we hope that one or two of them strike a chord with you, and...

/ January 5, 2016

Stuck for teacher gift ideas?

There is truth in the old saying “it’s the thought that counts”, and when it comes to buying something for the teachers who hold a special place in your child’s heart, rest assured a gift that has been carefully thought about means more than you can imagine. It’s getting close to that time of the year when we not only...

/ December 15, 2015

Avoiding end of year teacher burnout

It’s important to try and enjoy the festivities. Enjoy the celebrations with the children you work with, try to see the magic and wonder of the holiday season through their eyes, but at the same time finish the year without burning out. Here’s 7 tips from experienced teachers to help you at this crazy time of year.   Teachers are...

/ December 15, 2015